Is this the beggining of the end of our sport?

Wow. That was funny I don't care who you are

No, it won't end. Im sure it will evolve, and probably in some ways that most of us won't like; but 10, 20, 50 years down the road there will still be some sort of hs football being played.

The game wont end. Theres too much money at stake for it to simply end. Equipment will catch up with the times especially Helmets and mouthguards and coaches may have to be certified as Concussion Proof but the game wont end. It just happens that this is big news right now.

Schools have phased-out booster clubs... you cannot have seperate booster-clubs that can use the name of the school to raise money.

EVERY PENNY that I spend on football has to go through our school account and follow the school purchasing regulations. It is making the job be 90% paper-pusher and 10% coach, where it used to be 90% coach, 10% paper-pusher

I have to raise the money using school-approved fundraisers... CA and UT are the 2 states I've coached in, and outside booster accounts are going bye-bye.

We still fundraise, but it is ALL run through the school accounts now. My "football" budget the school gives me to run my program is $3000 a year. That doesn't even pay for my recon costs. The other $67,000 that we spend in a given year is all fundraised by myself and my players and has to be collected by the financial people at the school and deposited into my account so that I can "request" to spend it later.

LOL..My wife tells me she knew she married Mr. Right but didn't know my first name was Always

I think that in 20-30 years, football as we know it will have evolved into 7-on-7. Offenses are moving in this direction, there is a lower risk of catastrophic injury, and there are already "national tournaments" that take place.

Imagine how much lower a school district's insurance costs would be if they did not have football.

Not a cheery thought...

This is exactly what is happening in Ontario Canada.  Canadian high schools have never funded sports like our neighbors to the south, and high school coaches don't get any additional pay or incentives to coach...as a result, you rarely find quality coaching staffs in Canadian high schools.  Over the past 7 years, the Ontario club football scene has boomed and I think it is largely responsible for the recent success Canadian football players are having. 

My son, who plays plays rugby because he wanted to continue playing a contact sport after high school, is fascinated by how many NFL players do not wear mouthpieces. after one of Vick's concussion was blamed on a lack of a mouthpiece, he began to notice. He points it out throughout every game we watch. Mouthpieces are vital to preventing concussions, yet a surprisingly high number of players are not wearing them. I have not heard this issue discussed much in terms of concussions in the NFL.


The NFL situation is much different than what we deal with at the high school level, IMO.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using proboards

I also am suprised how many aren't wearing the top of the line new helmets.  They continue to wear what they wore in high school/college because they are used to them I guess.

I am not a prophet, but here are some things I truly believe will be forced into our sport in the next 20 yrs

1. Helmets will be upgraded in every way to prevent concussions.
2. Concussions, when diagnosed by a DR, will result in the player being made to sit out for an entire year to the date (I am not pulling this one out of thin air, this comes from those whom I know in the Athletic Training and Sports Medicine world) this is going to apply for high school players and younger.
3. Kickoffs will be elimnated all together
4. Punts will be allowed, but return of punts will not exist any longer (think of all the "crack back blocks" we see on punts and kickoffs
5. Head to Head hits will result in immediate suspension of a player for that game and possibly for the season.

I dont mean to sound like George Orwell from 1984 or anything, but I am telling you that in 20 years this game is going to change. Similiar to when in its early days Teddy Roosevelt demanded that football be cleaned up or he would ban the sport all together.

1. is way overdue anyway imo. With the speeds we have today and the technology to develop materials, the only thing holding this back is money. Which in itself must also be appreciated.
2. An entire year PUP sounds harsh but I guess that would depend on the intensity of the concussion right?
3. Agreed
4. All Punts a fair catch, agreed
5. For the defense, but I dont see this impacting the offense in any way

Point 5 is where the grey area is, at what point is a RB not going to be allowed to lower the shoulder? At what point will the Spearing rule be enforced. The rule is already in place.

It is interesting to me that the NFL, Coaches, and others.....

1. Discuss reducing the speed and space of special teams plays, at the same time create rules to enhance greater space on offensive/defensive plays (ie increase pass game).

What would be the impact on football if they eliminated hand blocking and the NFL allowed DB to jam recievers until the ball is in the air, obviously pass game would be greatly reduced and in turn the space in which the game is played would be reduced likely the interest in the game would be reduced.

2. Discuss the importance of creating improved equipment, however continue to build sleeker more comfortable helmets.

I'm reminded of I believe it was Steve Taskers helmet, it had the helmet and an outer core, now I'm not sure of the proven effectiveness or lack there of, of this design I can state that it is obvious creating additional layers of an outer core of a helmet that takes impact movement especially rotational impact out prior to even contact occurs to the core of the helmet would improve the safety of hits that occur. Why is it we are not seeing different outer core designs of helmets that reduce multiple forces of the impact, is it simply that it doesn't look cool, they would not sell as many, kids don't feel as fast in them. At what cost....

3. The concussion issue has changed my approach as a coach, it has made me much more focused on how we practice, how long we practice, and how we protect our kids, in my opinion it has made me a better coach due to these factors, this offseason we have focused completely on how we can teach tackling better to avoid helmet to helmet contact at all cost..... We never encouraged this or coached it but now I want it completely eliminated for the protection of our players!

4. Brophy I appreciate your posts on the subject the analysis of this subject is critical for all of our growth and our sports growth...